What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas
LAS VEGAS — The USU men’s basketball team saw its roller-coaster season come to an end Thursday night. Bulldog senior center Romario Souza scored 16 points and pulled down 17 rebounds to lead Louisiana Tech over the Aggies 72-70 at the Orleans Arena.
Sophomore guard Preston Medlin, who finished with six points and eight assists, had an opportunity to either tie or win the game after LTU senior guard Trevor Gaskins missed his second free-throw attempt with 4.1 seconds left.
Instead of putting up a shot attempt, Medlin weaved through defenders in the backcourt and never got a shot off.
“We lose the ball at the end, and I thought we were going to get at least a shot,” USU head coach Stew Morrill said. “He just lost it. It was just one of those things.”
USU also passed up a chance to tie or take the lead in the final minute of the game when senior guard Brockeith Pane, who finished with 13 points and three assists, cut the lead to 71-69 on a layup with 1:35 to play before Gaskins missed a jumper on the other end.
Medlin was called for a charge on the ensuing possession, but freshman guard Raheem Appleby missed the front end of a one-and-one on the following possession. Freshman forward Ben Clifford, who finished with 12 points and six rebounds, threw the ball away on the next possession.
Pane then made his first free throw and missed the second with nine seconds remaining.
Louisiana Tech’s 3-point shooting especially hurt USU. The Bulldogs shot 8 of 17 for 47.1 percent and hit 52.9 percent overall.
“Give La. Tech credit, their quickness really bothered us,” Morrill said. “We couldn’t get them stopped and their shooting percentages were excellent. They dribbled around us a lot and made a lot of 3’s. We tried every defense that we had, and we just had a hard time guarding them.”
It was a back-and-forth first half for USU. Louisiana Tech began the game on a 10-0 run before the Aggies scored on a pair of free throws from senior forward Morgan Grim four minutes and 20 seconds into the game.
Grim’s free throws propelled a 20-3 run capped by a 3-pointer from the top of the key by freshman forward Ben Clifford.
The bench played well for USU in the first half as it accounted for 22 of its 32 first-half points. Clifford led USU at halftime with nine points on 4-of-4 shooting. The bench finished with 38 points on the eight.
“It saved us,” Morrill said of the bench play. “We were struggling. Our two starting posts had tough nights. Danny (Berger) came in real early for Mitch (Bruneel) and responded. Ben played awfully well and Jordan (Stone) was aggressive. It was two freshman posts, and I thought they were very, very good.”
Berger led the Aggies off the bench with 17 points and five rebounds.
“He was great,” Morrill said. “I think that’s what we’ve expected from Danny Berger. He’s a good player and he understands the game. It was just a matter of getting some confidence and tonight should help him. I thought he was aggressive and looked to make shots and drove by people.”
– ty.d.hus@aggiemail.usu.edu